


"Can I kiss you?"

by fireweed15



Category: Book of Life (2014)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Joaquín, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-22 15:31:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7444420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fireweed15/pseuds/fireweed15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a moment, Joaquín wasn’t sure how to respond. His stomach flipped and twisted with discomfort at the thought, but the idea wasn't… entirely repulsive…</p>
            </blockquote>





	"Can I kiss you?"

**Author's Note:**

> Canon tweak—instead of the events of the movie playing out over the course of a couple days, it takes place over several months. Also ace!Joaquín is great.

Joaquín often offered to walk with María. His reasons weren’t necessarily for courtship, definitely not to “protect” her (she was quite capable of doing that on her own), but because he genuinely enjoyed her company.

There was a pattern, almost ritualistic in a way—Maria would mention that she intended to go somewhere, and just before she took her leave, Joaquín would approach her and ask, “May I walk with you, Señorita Posada?” She would smile graciously and accept his offer and they would walk, their pace leisurely, exchanging stories and light-hearted barbs and conversation that they had missed over the last ten years.

It was perhaps the most intimate thing they could do without (for propriety’s sake) getting engaged, and certainly the most intimate thing with which Joaquín felt comfortable.

“Thank you for walking me home,” María said, in equal parts jest and sincerity, as they arrived at the Posada estate.

“My pleasure, María,” he replied, seeing her into the hall but not stepping inside. “If you like, I can walk with you to Mass tomorrow morning.”

“I would like that, please,” she replied, nodding slightly.

“Then I’ll see you in the morning.” Joaquín started to turn away, but stopped when he felt María’s hand close around his wrist. When he turned to face her again, her expression revealed nothing.

She released his hand and tilted her head back to meet his eye. The gesture wasn’t confrontational, as it might have looked to someone who didn’t know them well, but one that said she wanted his attention. “You always ask if you can walk me places,” she started. “Now I have something I want to ask you.”

He nodded, both to show that he was listening carefully and that he was willing to answer whatever she might ask of him. “Go ahead.”

Her next words were gentle, but direct. “Can I kiss you?”

For a moment, Joaquín wasn’t sure how to respond. His stomach flipped and twisted with discomfort at the thought, but the idea of kissing María wasn't… _entirely_ repulsive…

“You don’t have to say yes if you’re not comfortable,” María said. “I won’t be offended.”

“No—I mean, yes—” He forced himself to stop to gather his thoughts. “What I mean is… Yes, you may.”

María offered him a soft smile before standing on her toes to compensate for their marked difference in height. When he leaned down slightly to meet her, she lifted her hands to lay them on his cheeks; her touch was soft and a little cool, but the feeling of her lips pressed, very briefly, to his own quickly displaced it. It wasn’t everything everyone made it out to be—the earth certainly wasn’t moving or anything special like that—but it was rather nice, in its own way.

After a moment, María broke the kiss and pulled away. “Mass tomorrow morning?”

Joaquín nodded, seeing the shift in topic for what it was, and rolled with it. “Of course.”

María smiled a little wider before stepping back to close to door between them. “Good night, Joaquín.”


End file.
